Strauss-Kahn released from custody

LILLE, France, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Former international banker Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released from custody Wednesday in Lille, France, where police questioned him about a prostitution ring.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, was detained for nearly two days while authorities interrogated him as part of an investigation into a prostitution ring allegedly operated in France and Belgium by acquaintances of his, Euronews reported. The news Web site said the former International Monetary Fund chief and one-time contender for president of France had indicated he wanted to give police in Lille his version of what took place at parties where authorities allege prostitutes were a common presence.

The New York Times reported a source close to the investigation said Strauss-Kahn, who had been charged in New York with sexually assaulting a hotel maid, would be summoned by Lille police again in March. The New York charges have been dropped.

The newspaper said Strauss-Kahn's attorney has appeared to confirm his client was in attendance at the soirees without realizing the women were prostitutes.

"He could easily not have known, because as you can imagine, at these kinds of parties you're not always dressed, and I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman," Henri Leclerc told a French radio station in December.

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